I realize that the gift came a little early for Christmas but for all of the fans of small government the thought is appreciated. It has been practically impossible to convince the majority of the people that big government can be a big part of the problem until we saw the stumbling, bumbling failures surrounding the rollout of www.healthcare.gov. The Affordable Care Act supporters did something to the American people that the Tea Party could never accomplish. They convinced the American people that when it comes to health care reform, if you want a really big scandal you need a federal program! This week a Pew poll confirmed that “seventy-two percent of Americans say big government is a greater threat to the U. S. in the future than is big business or big labor, a record high in the nearly 50-year history of this question”. When I started working in 1976 only 38% of Americans viewed big government as a greater threat to the future of the U. S. With health care expenditures in the United States at about 18 percent of GDP, is this an indicator that we are winning the race to the bottom and we need to stop doing health care the way we have done if for the last fifty years. When you combine the allegations of mismanagement and lying with the thought that we are asking the IRS to force individuals and businesses to buy health insurance, part of the problem can now be laid at the feet of big government and federal programs. It is very easy to dismiss the Affordable Care Act as more of the same with more subsidies rather than an attempt at health care reform. It was a missed opportunity for big government to demonstrate that they can improve health care better than local or state governments. As the people who purchase health insurance in the individual market have found out, you should be very worried when someone says we are from the government and we are here to help!